1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software. More specifically, the present invention relates to drawing interoperability between different computer-aided (CAD) design applications that employ different document formats.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, computer aided design (CAD) applications are available that allow users to compose electronic drawings of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) objects. The drawings may be stored as a data file, where the content, format and structure of the data file is understood by the CAD application used to create the drawing. Although different CAD applications may be used to compose similar, if not identical, drawings, the format used to store the files may be significantly different. Thus, one feature provided by many CAD applications is the ability to translate documents from one format to another-typically, from the format of a source application to the format of a target application. Similarly, when accessing a drawing created by another CAD application, a drawing file may be translated from a foreign format to a native format.
For example, a designer of industrial machinery may want to share a drawing created using one drawing program (“source application”) with an architect who may want to view the drawing using a different drawing program (“target application”). In such a case, the drawing is first translated from the format of the source application to the format of the target application. However, translating the drawing may result in numerous problems. One problem is that the translation process is usually imperfect and results in a copy that is not true to the original. Consequently, the visual representation of the translated drawing is often different from that of the source drawing. The imperfect translation is typically due to the fact that the source application used to create the drawing may have features that are not available in the target application. That is, the drawing format used by a target application may not be able to represent everything included in the drawing format of the source application. Thus, when the drawing is translated, some elements of the source drawing may be lost. This problem is exacerbated when the drawing is modified using the target application and then is viewed again using the source application. In such a case, the drawing essentially undergoes a “round-trip” from a source format to a target format and back again. And at each leg of the trip, the translation process can introduce errors or discrepancies into the drawing.
Another problem is that translating every part of a drawing document can be complex and may consume a significant amount of computer processing time. Such delays may be inconvenient or unacceptable for the user of the drawing program. Further, when multiple copies of a drawing are made (i.e., one in an original or source format and another in a target format), the original drawing and the translated drawing may become unsynchronized. For example, where the original and translated drawings are modified using different programs, one drawing may be modified so that it no longer matches the other drawing. In such cases, the modified drawings may need to be reconciled into a single version, requiring a manual process that is time-consuming and error-prone.
As illustrated by the foregoing reasons, there is a need in the art for improved drawing interoperability between different computer-aided design applications.